


I Promised

by TsarinaTorment



Series: Tales From the Heart [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Angst, Blood, Character Death, Gen, Major Character Injury, Ope Ope no Mi | Op-Op Fruit, Self-Sacrifice, Tragedy, Unhappy Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-25
Updated: 2021-02-25
Packaged: 2021-03-15 21:08:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,219
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29689983
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/TsarinaTorment/pseuds/TsarinaTorment
Summary: “Promise me,” Shachi had said once.  “No matter what.“  Law wished he hadn’t.
Relationships: Shachi & Trafalgar D. Water Law
Series: Tales From the Heart [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1325180
Comments: 3
Kudos: 28





	I Promised

**Author's Note:**

> Due to the Character Death, I've chosen to list this as a separate fic rather than placing it in the main _Tales From The Heart_ fic, but it is still _Tales_ -verse and directly references chapter 94 ['Immortal'](https://archiveofourown.org/works/12808926/chapters/31731012)

"Law!"

Exhausted as he was, Law couldn't move fast enough, his eyes tracking the blow headed straight for him as he stumbled back half a step and braced for the impact that seemed likely to kill him. Once upon a time, he wouldn't have cared at all, but with a crew that meant more to him than life itself he realised he didn't want to leave them, not now and not ever.

The collision was solid, shoving him backwards until his back hit something hard; some rubble debris from the fight, probably. A weight followed him, crashing into his chest and pushing all of the air from his lungs. His back hurt from the rubble, blood soaked his front. There was no pain at the point of impact, but that was probably shock.

He opened his eyes to see the damage – when had they closed? – only to gasp as his throat choked up. Ginger, a colour unmistakable even in the battlefield, clouded his vision, alongside askew shades and weeping eyes.

Shachi's eyes were green. Law had never been close enough to tell before, even in thirteen years. Once upon a time they were probably striking, before being ruined by snowblindness. Moisture welled up in them and Law moved instinctively to fix his shades, a trembling hand wiping away the tears.

The act drew his attention to the blood dripping from Shachi's mouth, the laboured breathing. The fact that the blood soaking into his own top was coming from elsewhere, wasn't his.

"Law," Shachi croaked, voice weak and trembling even as his lips pulled into a pathetic excuse for a smile. Law's eyes widened in horror as the situation started to sink in. "Are you okay?" Law was numb, trembling as his nakama tilted forwards before his hands moved on autopilot, catching the ginger's weight.

"You-" he tried, feeling the blood coating his hands in seconds. So much of it; they needed to stop the bleeding now but he couldn't even draw on his Room and conventional treatments wouldn't be fast enough. "Shachi-"

The ginger coughed, blood splattering Law's face.

"It's okay," he wheezed, as though he wasn't painting Law's world crimson with every passing second. "It's okay, Law."

It wasn't okay, wasn't okay at all. Law tried to move, to do something even though his bones felt like lead, only to be brought up short by quivering hands on his face, wiping away tears he hadn't realised he was crying.

"No." The voice was broken, cracking on the single syllable and barely louder than a whisper. It took Law a moment to realise it was his. He didn't have any stamina left, the muscles in his arms trembling from supporting the ginger's weight and his knees trembling in warning that they couldn't keep him standing much longer.

That didn't stop him from dredging up whatever he could, pushing out the Room from his heart and ignoring the burn that warned he was draining his own life. The blow would have been enough to kill Law, and Shachi was weaker. He didn't even have Armament Haki capable of absorbing any of the attack.

"Don't you dare die on me," he managed, letting gravity take over and pull them to the ground. He needed his hands free for this, even as Shachi gave him a bloodstained grin. The crimson stained his lips and cheeks in a way that was all too similar to Cora-san's eternal grin; his final grin.

Law was a doctor. He didn't need his abilities to tell him that Shachi's wounds were fatal, even as he shoved him over to lie on his back – roughly, but he didn't have the strength to use any finesse. Shachi was beyond feeling the pain, anyway.

There was only one thing he could do, short of letting Shachi die and that was not an option, was never an option. Law had suspected that one day things would come to this: exchanging his own life for his nakama, just like Cora-san had exchanged his life for Law's all those years ago. Unlike the Ope Ope no Mi's other abilities, this one didn't need any stamina to use. It would take its payment at the end.

A hand grasped his own, pale where it wasn't stained with blood, halting him with strength it didn't seem like it should have had. Dead man's grip, the back of Law's mind whispered in despair, and he tried to tug his hand back, to continue the operation.

"You promised," Shachi rasped, somehow managing to sound strong even though his voice was faint. "No matter what."

Of course, Shachi was the one that had found him the day he'd learnt about his ability to exchange his life for another's. He wasn't the only one that knew Law could do it – such a thing, while kept close to his chest, couldn't be hidden from Penguin or Bepo for long – but he was the only other one that had read the papers detailing how to do it. No-one else would have known until it was over.

"I won't let you die," Law snarled back, tugging furiously at his hand to no avail. "What would that do to Penguin? To the others?"

"The weak… don't get to choose how they die," Shachi quoted, reminding Law of the phrase he'd said more than once. "Law… Captain… Am I that weak that I don't get to choose?"

"No," Law admitted, unable to even imply that Shachi was anything other than strong – in many ways, stronger than him. "But-"

"Everyone dies sometime," Shachi cut him off, his grip increasing further. Law wished that was because his strength was increasing, and not because his muscles were starting to seize. "For a pirate… I can't think of a better death… than saving my nakama."

"Shachi-" Law wanted to complain, scream about how it wasn't fair and that he refused to let Shachi die, requests be damned, but one look at the content look on his face, marred only by a furrowing of his forehead that Law knew was Shachi's concern that he wouldn't be listened to, and he couldn't do it. Not to Shachi. "You idiot," he mumbled around a suddenly too-thick tongue. His vision blurred, but despite that he could see the moment the ginger relaxed, realising that yet again – for the final time – he'd out-stubborned Law.

"Law... look after Penguin, would you?" Shachi asked, and Law's heart seized. _Penguin._ How was he supposed to face the older man? "He'll… understand. A-and, Law?" Law made a noise of recognition, no longer trusting his voice. "Look after yourself. You probably know… this already, but j-just this once… I'll say it." He paused, taking as large a breath as his rapidly weakening lungs allowed. The rasp cut through Law sharper than any scalpel. "I love you."

He was smiling. Law wanted to shout at him, to tell him he wasn't allowed to say that and then die smiling, but before he could gather his thoughts into enough coherency and get the first word on his tongue Shachi's chest – heaving weakly since the blow – stuttered and then stopped.

The noise that escaped Law's mouth instead was a cry of anguish. Tears blurred his vision, but not enough to hide the fact that even in death, Shachi was still smiling.

**Author's Note:**

> So I actually mostly wrote this back in 2018, I just didn't get around to polishing it up ready for posting until today, oops. I believe this was inspired by a review for 'Immortal' where someone wanted to see Law having to make that choice, so here it is, three years later!
> 
> Thanks for reading!  
> Tsari


End file.
